Lt. Robert A. Browning
355th Fighter Group - 354 Fighter Squad - 8th Air Force

Lt. Browning flew P-51 Mustang (tail # 42-106708)
Escorted bomber’s into industrial area to attack in Germany

Steeple Morden…the 355th Fighter Group
Established as an 8th Air Force Fighter Base in 1943( Station 122 ), Steeple Morden was originally used as a small satellite field for Bassingbourne. The addition of concrete runways, living and technical facilities allowed expanded operations and accommodations for some 2,000 personnel. the base was occupied by the 355th Fighter Group for two years. The Unit operated both P-47 and P-51 aircraft and holds the record for the most enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground by an 8th Air Force
The Unit prepared for combat in World War II. In July 1943, the 355th moved to Steeple Morden, England. The group first saw combat in September when pilots escorted bombers attacking industrial areas of Berlin, marshaling yards, airfields and oil production facilities. Group pilots also flew fighter sweeps, area patrols and their own bombing missions, destroying enemy supply and communication lines. The 355th FG pilots quickly gained acclaim as "The Steeple Morden Strafers" for their weapons expertise. The group successfully bombed and strafed German airdromes during snow storm April 5, 1944, resulting in a Distinguished Unit Citation.

An account of Lt. Browning’s capture:

June 3, 1944

F.O. 364 Lieutenant Colonel Kinnard led an area patrol to the Montdidier area under Type 16 control. Colgate vectored the group to Montdidier for about 90 minutes and then brought them home at 1455. Lieutenant Browning of the 354FS went down west of Paris with engine coolant trouble at 1425 hours to become POW. Nothing else exciting happened and landfall was made south of Calais

UNIT 354 TYPE: POW CAUSE: OTH
June 3, 1944 - Lieutenant Robert Browning - Lost coolant shortly after strafing ground targets west of Paris and bellied in near Verchoo France. Could have been flak damage.

The day Robert Browning’s plane went down in occupied France, he went to prepare to fly and he was not able to find his own dogtags., so he took some that belonged to someone else.
When he noticed he had problems with his plane he tried to ditch/bale out but he was wearing a watch that was caught on one of the instruments, so he was unable to get out.
When his plane went down it had caught on fire, he had received some burns, and as he was running away from his plane the flames ignited his own amunition. He was captured with the wrong dogtags which included the wrong blood type.

Lt. Browning was captured June 3, 1944, west of Paris in Verchoo, he was taken as POW.
Where he was held in Stalag Luft 3, (then Zagan, Poland) now Sagan Germany. It was a camp for officers and airmen. The camp was established in April 1943, and was one of the six special German POW camps specially build for the ever increasing numbers of POW aircrews. At the height of its existence about 10000 officers and non-commissioned officers were interned in the camp.

Lt. Browning remained there until the night of January 28, 1945 when they were marched out around midnight. After 5 days of marching in the snow and freezing weather they arrived Feb. 5, 1944 where they were interned in Stalag XIII D. There they remained until liberated by General Patton's Army on 29 April, 1945. While marching to Mooseburg, they frequently were stopped at farmhouses along the way and given soups and other hot dishes by the occupants of the farm, as the Germans were low on food themselves and certainly did not want to "waste" it on Prisoners of War.

Stalag VII-A brought nothing but unbearable cold and hunger. The winding down of World War II had forced POWs to be sent from other camps to Moosburg. A facility designed to house 3,000 prisoners now swelled to a total estimated 30,000 to 100,000. The overcrowding meant little food and no hot water for cooking or washing. As a result, the straw beds were infested with lice and fleas. The outdoor latrines, one for about every 2,000 men, had eventually overflowed, promoting further disease among the kriegies. The Germans refused to clean them until the parade ground, where the kriegies assembled for roll call, became affected.

Sunday, April 29, the Moosburg kriegies awakened to brilliant sunshine, restoring their belief freedom just might be near. "McGuffy," the code name for the BBC (British Broadcasting Company), heard by kriegies over hidden radios had announced General Patton's 3rd Army was northeast of Munich. This startling revelation sent many prisoners scurrying to examine their secret maps, confirming Moosburg was indeed close to that area. As the morning progressed, so did excitement in the camp. Men grouped together, whispering, planning, and praying this just might be the day.
The kriegies heard the long awaited, soul stirring signs of freedom before seeing them. Just over the horizon was the unmistakable chugging sound of a Piper Cub. As the observation craft every combat soldier knew so well came gliding over the Bavarian evergreens, it began wagging its wings over the camp as thousands of voices boomed up to greet it. The powerful engines of two P 51s followed the Cub, enhancing the already spectacular scene with victory rolls over barracks and tents for the exhilarated POWS.
And then the most revered sound of all; one holding thousands of kriegie eyes and ears spellbound with anticipation that seemed to last as long as the war itself; the deep rumble of diesel tanks approaching from beyond the surrounding hills. From the second they were spotted to their arrival at the main gate, the rescue machines were literally drowned out by the deafening kriegie jubilation.
It was the 14th Armored Division, storming the main gate of Moosburg that late Sunday morning. To this day, its veterans claim the cheering of captured servicemen being liberated, "is the most moving sound we've ever heard.

The true end of our captivity came about 12:30 P.M. when the American flag, Old Glory, was seen being hoisted to the top of a church steeple in the town of Moosburgonly a short distance away. As one, 8,000 American kriegies faced the church, came to attention and saluted, all with tears of pride in our country and pent up emotion trickling down our cheeks.
There was no official transfer of authority at Stalag VII A. The unresisting guards remaining at the camp were disarmed, loaded on to trucks and themselves taken away as prisoners of war of the Americans.

On April 30, 1945, American support troops appeared at Stalag VII A and began distributing K-rations and ten in one rations to the Allied POWs of all nationalities. On May 1, 1945 a grim-faced Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., commander of the U.S. Third Army, paid us a visit at Stalag VII A. He was dressed in a crisp, neat, fresh uniform and wearing his legendary wide black leather belt with a huge silver buckle to which were attached his famous paired set of ivory-handled six-guns. Maj. Gen. James A. Van Fleet, III Corps Commander, and Maj. Gen. Albert C. Smith, commander of the 14th Armored Infantry Division, accompanied General Patton. As he walked briskly through the camp General Patton occasionally stopped and exchanged a few brief words with small groups of American prisoners. When he came upon my group the General paused, looked at us, shook his head in disgust at the sight of the thin, unkempt scarecrows standing before him and said in a low voice, “I’m going to kill these sons of bitches for this.”

In the days that followed we were deloused, permitted to bathe and shower, and issued new American army uniforms. On May 9, 1945, a group of ex-POWs trucked to a former Luftwaffe base at Regensburg, placed aboard a U.S. C-47 transport aircraft, and airlifted to Liege, Belgium. The next day, in a troop train filled with American ex-kriegies, I was transported to Camp Lucky Strike at LeHavre, France. Camp Lucky Strike was a collection point and rehabilitation center for former American prisoners of war. We were no longer prisoners of war; we were now officially designated as RAMPS (Recovered Allied Military Personnel).

Lt. Browning and fellow POW’s were Liberated on April 29, 1945 by Gen. George Patton

Robert A Browning